“Do you have a fake identification?”
That’s just one of the questions on a survey sent to 1,500 randomly picked University students and aimed at determining when and why students party off-campus.
The survey, created at Michigan State University, is being distributed at 16 college campuses nationwide. The University has agreed to partake in all three parts of the study, which include a written four-page survey, focus groups and the collection of police data in October.
The University is working in conjunction with the Eugene Police Department and the city managers’ office, as well as many groups within the University, such as the Department of Public Safety, the Student Judicial Affairs Program and the Office of Student Life.
Laura Blake Jones, the associate dean of students and the director of the Office of Student Life, has been the principle investigator for the study at the University. She said the survey is designed to identify patterns that contribute to out-of-control parties and find solutions to breaking those patterns.
“Hopefully, this will give us new insights into building a stronger community,” she said.
Some of the questions on the survey ask about students’ illegal activities, such as possession of a fake identification, but students can fill out the survey anonymously. Students can fill out a separate card with their personal information, which will be entered into a drawing for two reserved seats to the Civil War football game, but will have no connection to their survey responses. There will also be drawings for gift certificates to the University Bookstore.
The second part of the survey involves getting student input from 10 different focus groups. Blake Jones said she wants everyone to get involved with the focus groups, from members of the greek community to athletes to students living in the residence halls. Students who participate will not be required to give their real name and can also be entered into the prize drawing.
The third part of the survey requires the cooperation of EPD, DPS and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. All three organizations are gathering data on various things, such as the number of parties that result in infractions and how many kegs are being rented in October.
EPD Management Analyst Linda Phelps said the reason for the data is so both the city of Eugene and the organizers of the survey can get a bigger picture of what is happening.
“We tend to just look at each incident,” she said. “We don’t step back and take a bigger look.”
Past incidents at the University include riots that broke out in the West University neighborhood three times last year, the worst of which occurred in late September 2002, when students rushed the streets, burning everything from street signs to a golf cart.
Blake Jones said the cooperation between the city and the University has been a tremendous help with the survey.
“The way to solve this type of problem is to get both the city and the campus working together on the project,” she said.
The final report will be presented to Michigan State in February, where the University will be able to compare it’s data with the 15 other participating colleges.
Contact the crime/health/safety
reporter
at [email protected].